


Run

by stickmarionette



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Gen, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-21
Updated: 2010-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:36:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stickmarionette/pseuds/stickmarionette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo struggles with himself after a major injury.  Oscar tries to help.</p><p>Written in 2008.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Run

**Author's Note:**

> Set during the 2006 World Cup. Getafe and Argentina goalkeeper Oscar Ustari is a long-time friend of Leo Messi.

9 June 2006

Oscar hurriedly hides his copy of _Ole_ when Leo comes into their room. He can't help a sigh as he drops down onto Oscar's bed, the other boy instinctively moving to make more room for him.

"It's okay, Dad told me what they're saying." Anybody else might have missed Oscar's annoyed expression, gone as quickly as the next eyeblink, but Leo's known him for a while. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think you should be listening to what - these guys - write." Oscar's really, honestly pious, so Leo's never seen him swear, but from the way he bites out those two words and the disgusted look on his face, it must have been tempting.

That's Oscar, though - honest. Leo half-turns to face him properly, propping himself up on one elbow. "You think dad shouldn't tell me?"

Oscar bites his lip, struggling over the answer. "Not when it clearly bugs you."

"I don't know. Sometimes, not knowing bugs me too." And all of it just making things complicated when they really aren't. "I mean, what's the problem with these guys?" He says, gesturing at the newspaper Oscar had hidden behind himself.

It's a weird thing, but his outbursts always seem to reassure Oscar, who just smiles and acts like an old man, all comforting and realistic. "They're just worried because you seem unhappy."

Immediately, out of his mouth without even thinking: "I'm not unhappy."

Equally quickly: "Yes, you are."

"Maybe a bit. But nobody should have to worry about me," Leo says, quiet now. "You know, when I went to Barca, I was so shy I couldn't speak to anybody, and they didn't speak to me because they thought I was mute, and we still won everything every year."

There's an odd look in Oscar's eyes. After a moment, Leo recognises it as sadness. "You can't live that way. Leo, it's not just - our lives aren't just the 90 minutes, alright? It shouldn't be."

Leo shrugs. "I train, and I play when they tell me to. That's all I want. What else am I supposed to do?"

"Learn to walk before you run," Oscar says, firmly, but with such warmth in his voice that Leo ducks his head, even as a part of him throws its hands up, indignant.

_But I have._

That's how it's supposed to work - he waited for his time, and his prize was being allowed to sprint - at the Bernabeu, Stamford Bridge and Camp Nou.

The real frustration of it, of being here and keeping his head down and waiting without saying a word, is knowing what it feels like to run, and being told to walk.

But then - then he thinks of the painful stumbles, of pulling up short just when it mattered most, of breaking down again before Milan and being told he would have no part in the Champions League final. And yeah, maybe he's got to learn how to run without tripping over so damn much first.

***

16 June 2006

Leo actually stares at Mr Pekerman for a moment before the sentence gets through to him, and the quick nod isn't quite enough to hide his embarrassed flush.

Very kindly, Oscar does not laugh and settles merely for messing up Leo's hair a bit. "Good luck. Careful with the running."

Leo grins. "Sure."

***

24 June 2006

It's his birthday (and Roman's), they beat Mexico in extra time and Leo played a great one-two with Pablo Aimar. The staff throws a joint birthday party, and there's even cake. It's a good day.

A small cardboard box gets stuffed quickly into his hands while everybody else is distracted by Carlitos' -surprisingly good, and unsurprisingly loud - singing. Oscar only gestures wordlessly at the box when Leo gives him a questioning look.

"Can I open it?"

Oscar nods stiffly. Leo's never seen him so nervous, not even before a final.

Inside the box is a plain ring.

"I - I didn't know whether - " Oscar begins, uncomfortably.

Everybody's watching now, but that doesn't really matter. Leo puts the ring on with careful fingers.

"Thank you."

***

30 June 2006

It's almost a small victory that Leo doesn't start crying until he's safely in the dressing room and there are no damn cameras in his face. It's like Paris all over again, except a hundred times worse - because Paris was, after all, a victory, and he didn't have to see his team mates - some of the strongest guys he's ever met - cover their faces to hide the tears because of stupid penalties. But the frustration is the same. The grief is something else entirely.

Huddled in on himself, Leo's fingers brush over metal. He'd almost forgotten the ring was there.

_Learn to walk before you run._

Leo breathes out, slowly, evenly, and raises his head.

_I will._

  
_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> 1) Oscar really did give Leo a ring for his 19th birthday.  
> 2) The dates: before Argentina's first game (2-1 win against the Ivory Coast), on the day of their second (6-0 win against Serbia &amp; Montenegro, with Leo's WC debut), the day of their round of 16 game (2-1 win against Mexico), and the day of their defeat on penalties to Germany in the quarter-finals.  
> 3) Messi found it hard to communicate with the rest of the group, and they with him, at the WC because of his shy, introverted personality and the age gap between him and most of the others, almost all veterans of the team. This along with his protracted return from injury made his integration complicated, and he spent most of his time with room mate Oscar.  
> 4) The debate over whether Jose Pekerman (Argentina's coach) under-used Messi at the WC has gone on ever since their elimination against Germany.  
> 5) The season before the WC was Messi's breakout season, but an injury sustained in March against Chelsea led to several botched comeback attempts and him ultimately missing both the CL semis against Milan and the final against Arsenal (ruled out by Frank Rijkaard hours before the game). The latter is a subject of huge frustration for him.


End file.
